Not frost, but the sun: how and where are the RPL clubs preparing for the resumption of the championship

Just over a month remains before the resumption of the season in the Russian Premier League. The first match is already on February 27: Zenit will host Kaliningrad Baltika. Preparations for the restart of the championship have already begun. For more information about how and where the top RPL clubs are preparing to return to the season, see the Izvestia article.

Krasnodar

The current champions of Russia came out of vacation on January 14th. Murad Musayev's team is holding its first training camp in Dubai, UAE. It will last until January 28. The Bulls' second training camp is also scheduled in the Emirates, but in Abu Dhabi from January 29 to February 21.

At the moment, Krasnodar has only one match scheduled as part of the first training camp: on January 27, the Southerners will play against Elim from Kazakhstan.

At the second training camp, in Abu Dhabi, Krasnodar will hold a full-fledged pre—season tournament - the RPL Winter Cup. There, the black and green will face CSKA Moscow (February 3), Zenit (February 6) and Dynamo Moscow (February 10). After that, Krasnodar will play two more test matches: on February 17, against Zenit again, and the opponent for the game on February 21 will be announced later.

Zenit

The vice-champions of Russia returned to training on January 15. Sergey Semak's team went to Doha, Qatar, for the first winter training camp. But not in full force — without Wendell. It's not the first time the Brazilian blue-white-blue midfielder has been late for training camp with the team, but Semak doesn't see this as a serious problem.

"Other players arrive in their own mode, including Wendell, who is willing to pay for being late rather than attend and start with the team. We are waiting for him in the near future," explained Semak.

During the first training camp, Zenit announced two friendly matches with the Chinese club Shanghai Port in an unusual format. In the first game, scheduled for January 22, the teams will play three halves of 30 minutes each. In the second meeting, which will be held on January 26, three halves of 45 minutes will be played. This will give the players more playing load, and the coaching staff will be able to use the maximum number of people called up for the training camp. So everyone will be a plus.

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Zenit's second training camp will be held in Abu Dhabi. There, the team from St. Petersburg will take part in the RPL Winter Cup, where they will play against Dynamo Moscow (February 3), Krasnodar (February 6) and CSKA Moscow (February 10).

CSKA

The army began the winter training camp on January 13 in Abu Dhabi. Fabio Celestini's team will play two friendly matches at the first training camp: on January 22 against Akron and on January 25 against Dinamo Samarkand from Uzbekistan.

At the second training camp, CSKA will take part in the RPL Winter Cup: on February 3, the red and blue will play Krasnodar, on February 6 against Dynamo Moscow, and on February 10 against Zenit.

As part of the third training camp, CSKA will play two matches: against Rostov and Lokomotiv.

"Locomotive"

Lokomotiv will spend all of its three training camps in Abu Dhabi. The first gathering began on January 13 and will end on January 24, the second is scheduled for January 28 – February 8, and the third for February 12-21.

Two Loko players missed the start of the training camp: Cesar Montes joined the team on January 20, and Jerzino Nyamsi will arrive at the red-green camp in time for the start of the second training camp on January 28.

Lokomotiv has already played one match (against Chinese Chengdu Rongcheng). On January 24, the Railwaymen will meet with Rostov. There is no information on the rivals for the second and third collection yet.

Spartak

In 2026, Spartak's preparations for the spring part of the season will take place entirely in Dubai. On January 16, the red-Whites held their first training session under the leadership of the new head coach, Spaniard Juan Carlos Carcedo.

Spartak did not go to Dubai in full force. Defender Christopher Wu and striker Theo Bongonda rested after playing at the Africa Cup of Nations for Cameroon and DR Congo. They will arrive in time for the start of the second gathering, which will take place from January 27 to February 10. The dates of the third gathering are February 14-27.

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Defender Srdjan Babic, who is recovering from cruciate ligament surgery, will also return to the team for the second training camp.

Spartak has five friendly matches scheduled for the second and third training camps: against Armenian Pyunik (February 3), Chinese Dalian (February 7), Kazakh Astana (February 10), Rostov (February 21) and another opponent from Kazakhstan— Yelimaya (February 23).

Dynamo Moscow

The blue and white team will conduct all the preparations for the spring part of the season in the UAE. The first training camp started on January 14, which will end on January 26. There, Dynamo will take part in a friendly mini-tournament against two Chinese teams: Shanghai Shenhua (January 23) and Chengdu Rongcheng (January 26). The Shanghai team is coached by former coach of CSKA and the Russian national team Leonid Slutsky.

The second Dynamo training camp will be held from January 29 to February 10. The team will play three matches there. The third and final gathering will begin on February 13 and end on February 22. During this time, Dynamo will play two more test matches. The opponents for the second and third training camps will be announced later.